


I never met someone in real life before...

by nihonhistory



Series: Aced it [1]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Asexual Character, Asexual Relationship, Asexuality, Asexuality Spectrum, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-04
Updated: 2016-05-04
Packaged: 2018-06-06 10:08:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6749272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nihonhistory/pseuds/nihonhistory
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur and Merlin first met at work and become fast friends. After a few months they find out that they have even more in common than they ever thought possible which brings them even closer together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I never met someone in real life before...

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic every so I hope you like it and I appreciate all the comments you might want to leave.  
> And a big shout out to all the super nice people from the assnetwork who already gave me feedback, it's thanks too you people that I put this here. Biggest Thank you goes to profcolsymorgan aka snufflesfoot for doing the beta, should there be any more mistakes they are all mine.

“I’ve hired a new researcher today, he will start on Monday.”

“What? Why didn’t you talk to me about this before? Research is supposed to be MY responsibility!” Arthur shoots an angry glance in his father’s direction. But Uther is busy helping himself to another coffee and doesn’t seem to notice his son’s outrage. Or he simply isn’t impressed by it.

“Sure it is your responsibility, but I am still the director of this museum, so I don’t need to explain myself to anyone, not even you.” He turns to his son with a stern look on his face that Arthur knows just too well, it means that there is really no point in arguing because his father had made up his mind and wasn’t going to change it. “This young man is quite talented, did an excellent paper about the Jacobite risings in _‘Britain and the World’_. We are very lucky to have him. The things he dug up in his last job, it’s almost like magic – we will be able to push our progress in the British history section considerably once he is settled in properly.”

Arthur barely manages to repress a sigh. After all, he doesn’t really mind a new researcher, especially if he really is that good. What bothers him is that once again his father hadn’t asked his opinion before making a decision. Sometimes he wonders why he had been made head of the research department of Camelot Museum if his thoughts aren’t even considered.

“Alright, I will make sure he gets shown around properly and starts working on the Hanoverian documents with Gwen and Gwaine as soon as possible.” Arthur grabs another cup of extra-sugary tea and hurries of to his office before he can get even more frustrated with his father.

~~~

Merlin has to admit, that Camelot Museum is located in an impressive building. At first he hadn’t been too keen on working for Uther Pendragon. That man had the reputation of being a shark among goldfish – which really said a lot in the field of academic research: one wouldn’t believe how passionate some people could become over things that happened hundreds of years ago. But he had made the best offer and they had some of the most fascinating documents from the Hanoverian reign in Britain. So with this proper job he would finally be able to support his mother and step-dad and could still do what he likes best – getting lost in worlds that once were and shedding light on things that had been forgotten.

So he straightens his back, takes a deep breath and approaches the young man at the reception.

“Excuse me, it’s my first day here, could you please tell me where to find the Hanoverian collection?”

The receptionist smiles at him and says, “So you must be Merlin. Welcome to Camelot Museum, I’m Mordred. Just wait a second and I will call Arthur, he will come and fetch you. He is head of the research department.”

Merlin returns the smile, “Thanks that would be great.” Mordred is already on the phone and a few minutes later the elevator opens and his new boss Arthur Pendragon comes up to him wearing a kind but also business-like smile.

“Hello Merlin, I’m Arthur, your new boss. Welcome to Camelot Museum. Let’s go up to the office and grab a coffee and then I’ll show you around.”

Merlin is a little taken aback by this more or less informal greeting. Not exactly what he would have expected after his meeting with Uther last week. So all he can manage as a reply is “Em, I’m not really into coffee…”

Arthur laughs, nice and genuine. “I’m sure we will find something else for you, maybe a tea or a coke?”

“Tea sounds great!” Merlin says, a little embarrassed, feeling his ears grow warm.

~~~

Arthur likes Merlin right away. He is a little insecure and clumsy (he was so nervous that he almost dropped the cup of green tea Arthur handed him), but all in a very endearing kind of way. So while showing him around, Arthur finds himself chatting away easily about how things work at Camelot. The Museum has various core areas in its collection, but everyone’s pride has always been the British collection. Lately the competition had managed to catch up with them a little too much for Uther’s liking, so he had decided to get some additional staff, first and foremost for the time of the personal union between Britain and Hanover, since the Germans had started working the field with new effort for the past years.

~~~

They end their tour around noon at the Hanoverian collection where Merlin finally meets his co-workers Gwen and Gwaine. Both are around his and Arthur’s age, in their late-twenties, and greet him very enthusiastically, especially Gwen.

“Welcome to the castle!” she says, jumping from her set and giving him a hug right away. That makes him blush again but it’s also nice.

Gwaine smiles and extends his hand. “You will get used to her very soon,” he laughs. “She never holds back. And welcome by the way, it’s nice to get some backup, things have been very busy and the fills keep piling up.”

“Let him catch a breath, will you?” Arthur says teasingly. “We just got here so don’t jump right into work, okay? It’s not like the papers are going anywhere.”

“Alright, I’ll give him a break.” Gwaine grins. “Grab a seat Merlin.”

Merlin drops onto a very comfy couch that stands next to the door. In the center of the room are the desks of Gwen and Gwaine, facing each other, a third desk – presumably where he will be working – is placed at the end of the tables so he can see both of his colleges while sitting there and they can easily talk to each other. He likes that prospect. Both seem to be quite easy going and he is already looking forward starting to work with them.

Arthur settles down next to him, while the other two roll over with their office chairs.

“So, Uther convinced you to work here? Are you regretting it already?” Gwen asks with a teasing twinkle in her eyes.

“No, actually not,” Merlin laughs. “And I’m honestly a little surprised about that. He has quite a reputation, so I was expecting more of a dungeon-feeling around here and not so many nice people.”

“Lucky for everyone else it’s mostly me that has to deal with my father. He can be a piece of work…” Arthur pulls a face. “But these days he doesn’t leave his office much, you know just pulling the strings from the background. It’s me and Morgana that are doing most of the footwork.”

“Morgana?” Merlin shoots him a questioning look.

“Morgana Le Fay,” Gwen jumps in. “She is the head of PR and –”

“And my half-sister,” Arthur finishes the sentence. “She too can be a piece of work. You will get to know her.”

“As if you are always so easy-going…” Gwen sticks her tongue out in Arthur’s direction. “Has to be a family trait.”

Arthur chuckles good-naturedly. “Yeah, you’re probably right about that. So to make up for this fault in character how about I treat you guys for lunch? We haven’t been out for ages and it would be a nice opportunity to get to know Merlin better.”

Gwaine basically leaps out of his chair right away. “Great idea, I’m starving anyway!”

But Gwen bites her lip. “Actually we should really get going with the 1714 coronation papers…”

“Oh Gwen, since when are you all work and no fun?” Arthur exclaims. “But alright, being a responsible boss I should let you guy go back to your work. And I will leave Merlin right with you, so he can get on it, if that’s okay with you.” He turns towards Merlin for this last bit.

“Sure, I’m all excited to start working,” Merlin assures him.

“Cool, so I will leave you to it for now. BUT I will pick you up after work and we will go out for drinks. No arguing on this one. And make sure you call Mordred and let him order some lunch for you, we can’t take the risk of Gwaine starving. Just don’t get food on the coronation scroll or my father will have your heads.”

They all cheer on this and Arthur leaves to do whatever else he has to do. There surely is something already waiting for him, being head of the department and all.

So Merlin moves from the couch to his new workplace and after Gwen had ordered some lunch for them, they pitch him on what they are working on and how they handle the sources and stuff around here.

~~~

Arthur is sitting in his office, spinning on his chair absentmindedly – something he did very often when he was thinking, much to the amusement of everybody he worked with. It was a couple of months now since Merlin had started working here at Camelot and they had been out with the team several times, for drinks or for lunch.

Merlin was a really nice guy and got along great with everyone. Even Morgana, mostly at least, but that was about as good as one could get along with her anyway. She could be quite intimidating and Arthur can’t help a grin when he thinks back to how he introduced the two of them.

Morgana with her black and emerald business costume, high heels, dark lipstick and green highlights in her hair. The green hair is much to the dislike of their father – Uther had been furious and complained that no respectable museum could have a head of PR with such hair. But Morgana doesn’t care much whether or not her father approves of her looks. And she has such a personality that no one would dare to not take her seriously, even if her hair was bonbon-pink.

Merlin with his glasses, sweater jacket and clothes that always looked like they had been intended for a person twice his frame, had looked like he would be fed to the big bad wolf when they first met. But he still stood up for his ideas concerning some ads for an upcoming exhibition and that was something Morgana respected in people, even if they disagreed with her. And since they apparently both enjoyed making fun of Arthur as well they had warmed up to each other fairly soon.

Merlin had also proven himself to be a very valuable asset to the team, since he worked very well with Gwen and Gwaine. The first drafts for the new publication on the early years of the Hanoverian reign were fantastic. Merlin had a never-ending knowledge about the continental history of the time as well as the resistance against the foreign kings at the beginning. This was a nice addition to Gwen’s expertise about the Glorious Revolution and Gwaine’s knowledge about the British Empire since the late 18th century.

Arthur and Merlin had become fast friends and they had already spend a couple of weekends together, just hanging out, talking about how the publication came along, their respective interests in history, movies (especially period dramas), and family issues.

It was a real surprise how easy Merlin had become an essential part of Arthur’s life. It felt very natural to be with him. There was only one thing that Arthur had avoided to talk about so far, and thankfully it hadn’t really come up yet, which was that he was asexual. All his friends knew and it made life so much easier not having to pretend or being bothered with intrusive questions about his love-life, but it was always a bit difficult to bring it up to a new person…

Arthur sighs, gives his chair one last spin and when it stops he gets up and grabs his jacket. He is already running late for his – not too regular – regular group meeting.

~~~

The first meeting with a new group is always hard for Merlin. There isn’t even a good reason why that should be; it isn’t like he really stands out there or anything. But it tends to remind him of the fact that to most people he is weird and so he needs his own special group of people that are like him. He takes another deep breath and pushes the door open.

The room is warm and cozy, a nice homely pub. He can barely take the room in before his glasses become all foggy and he can’t see anything at all. How annoying. This is the only thing that sometimes lets him consider wearing contacts. He takes his glasses down impatiently and rubs them clean on this scarf.

When he is finally able to see again he scans the room for some sign which would be the right table. When he spots the round table in the corner he can’t help a snicker – a purple plush-dragon.

A handful of people are already sitting there.

~~~

Of course he is too late. As soon as Arthur enters the pub he spots the group in their usual corner.

Quietly he approaches the table and slips into an empty chair next to one of the other regulars, Frank. Frank is a nice fellow in his mid-twenties but he is also rather bulky and so Arthur can’t really see the newbie that had apparently just started to introduce himself. But he knows the voice well enough to recognize it immediately, even though he has missed the actual name part of the introduction – Merlin!

“- it took me until my early twenties to figure out that I was ace. I didn’t know the term till a friend mentioned it to me. A long time I just thought I might be gay, because I wasn’t really attracted to any of the girls around. And I thought I just hadn’t met the right guy yet to fall for. But it had never bothered me enough to really give it much thought until I started getting more into all the LGBT/Queer stuff through my friends at uni.”

“So you are homo-romantic?” Anna asks from across the table

“Not really, I consider myself ‘I don’t give a fuck’-romantic,” Merlin laughs. “I mostly fall for men, but I’ve also fallen for women. I don’t know many non-binary people and never fell for any of them, but since I’m not interested in having sex with a person their gender doesn’t really matter to me.”

Anna giggles. “I like this; it’s much more appropriate for asexuals then ‘panromantic’. By the way, Merlin, while you were talking one of our missing regulars finally made it. He probably got delayed by one of his dead kings again, didn’t you Arthur?”

Frank moves his chair a little back, so they can actually see each other. Arthur has finally managed to regain control of his face, but Merlin looks a bit stunned and his ears turn bright red.

“Arthur? What…? I mean, you, what…?”

“Hello Merlin, long time no see….since lunch. As you know I’m Arthur. As you most likely don’t know I’m a biromantic asexual.” Arthur smiles a little sheepishly.

~~~

“I have never met another ace before…I mean of course I have, at meetings, but I have never met someone and later learned that they were ace.” Merlin is still recovering from the surprise.

“Me neither, but then it’s not really something I tell people. It’s kind of weird I think. Telling people ‘By the way, I don’t like sex.’ I think I’d have an easier time telling people about my sexuality if it would be something like ‘Hey, I’m gay/bi, whatever.’” Arthur actually looks a bit annoyed about this and Merlin can’t help smiling.

“I get what you mean. Most people simply can’t get their head around it. They can sort of understand when you fancy men or women or sometimes even when they are neither or when you fancy more than one person. But not wanting to get in anyone’s pants at all they just don’t get.”

“Cheers on this depressing truth!” Arthur raises his glass and Merlin toasts back.

~~~

They had talked a lot this evening, Merlin hadn’t really gotten to know any of the other people at the meeting, but it had been so worth it!

Arthur is ace! Like him! He is still so excited about it that he starts biting his fist to stop himself from squeaking too loud. It’s in the middle of the night and the walls to his neighbor aren’t that thick and he doesn’t want to disturb them.

He is still way too hyper about this to fall asleep. He had met some great people at ace-groups, people he had become friends with, bonded over shared experiences and problems and later found common interests. But never had he hit it off with someone as easy as with Arthur. They can talk for hours about history and laugh about geeky jokes, they both only know one of their biological parents (even though Merlin has an amazing step-dad), they had become great friends in a fairly short time, he couldn’t imagine his life without Arthur anymore. So it’s really amazing that they also were both ace.

Merlin sighs and gets out of his bed again. He is too agitated to fall asleep and he needs to do something about this. So he makes a cup of tea, huddles himself on his couch, next to his cat, Hazel puts the Lord of the Rings DVD on that is still in the player. And before he can even chuckle out his favorite “A man, a dwarf and an elb in the Ridermark” joke, he has already dozed off to sleep.

~~~

After the initial excitement fades they settle into a comfortable rhythm. Most days they have lunch with Morgana, Gwen, Gwaine and various other people from work. Most weeks they go to the Ace meetup together straight from work. And at least once every weekend they cook and watch a movie or just talk about whatever.

So a few months later Arthur knocks on Merlin’s door with the groceries for this night’s chicken in cream sauce with rice and salad in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other – which is about as difficult as it sounds. And all he gets is a shout from Merlin: “Come in, door is open!” – How the hell is he supposed to open the door with no free hand? So he puts the bottle down for a moment, opens the door, picks it up again, walks in and kicks the door shut with maybe a little too much force.

He dumps the food in the kitchen and goes looking for Merlin, who still hasn’t shown. He finds him in the living room, twisting his long arms and legs on a yoga mat, while people dressed in white throw colorful powder at each other and sing. “Bollywood? Seriously?!”

“Hey, I don’t judge your life choices, so you don’t get to judge mine.” Merlin’s words come out a little breathless, while he starts untangling his limbs. Arthur leans against the doorframe and raises an eyebrow. “You can’t actually compare a well ordered Bond Collection to this, you know…”

“Yes I totally can,” Merlin grins cheekily and finally gets up from the floor.

“So what’s with the aerobics? I thought you hated sports,” he asks, instead of pursuing this fruitless discussion in cinematic taste.

“Just let me take a quick shower and I’ll tell you over dinner okay? It’s a bit of a story.”

“So first I have to get the groceries and let myself in and now I have to do the cooking as well? Fine host you are.” But he starts his way back to the kitchen. He doesn’t really mind, he likes cooking and it’s his recipe anyway.

Just ten minutes later Merlin joins him again, freshly showered, and starts chopping cucumber of the salad. “So? What’s the story?” Arthur asks while searing the chicken in the pan.

“You know how I spent most of the week at the library researching for this new paper?”

“Well duh, we had to basically drag you out of there for lunch and you even missed the meeting because of it.”

“Yeah, right, sorry again about that. Anyway. The tables there are way too low, and from working there for hours my back started to hurt like shit. So I decided to take up those yoga exercises again.”

Arthur added the cream to the chicken. “So you did that before? I mean it figures, you look like to yoga-vegan-type without even trying, but weren’t you making fun of me for going to the gym only last week?”

“Because most people go to the gym for show,” Merlin says and sticks his tongue out in Arthur’s direction. “I do them for medical reasons. I used to do those exercises most days while I was writing my Master thesis. Back in Germany. It was the same problem with the library and too low desks. It’s no problem at home or at work, where I can simply adjust the height or put some bricks under the table. When I worked with my computer I would put it on top of a couple of books nobody ever used, but when I was reading stuff that didn’t work. So I looked up some exercises to help build muscles in my back. And here we are.”

While Merlin talked Arthur had started to set the table since the chicken and salad were almost done. “So you suffer in the name of science. Very noble of you.”

“Yeah, all to shine some light on the homoromantic slash erotic adventures of our very own Prince of Wales, Frederick of Hanover,” Merlin sighs and drops in his chair.

“And since I, as you pointed out so kindly, don’t really fancy any kind of sports I put on a movie to make it more bearable.”

“And you choose Bollywood of all things? Why?”

Merlin pours them some wine, while Arthur serves the food. “Because I like it? It cheers me up. And for all the cheesy romance there is hardly any kissing and most important – no sex! That’s more than can be said about your beloved Double-O Seven movies.”

“All right, that is a valid point. So maybe I’ll let you try to convert me.” Merlin shoots him a wide grin.

“But first dinner!”

“Frist dinner.”

~~~

“Cheesy doesn’t even begin to cover it…I think my teeth are rotten from all this sweetness!”

 “Oh shut it, Arthur!” Merlin hits him with a pillow.

Arthur picks it up and uses it to make himself more comfortable with his head in Merlin’s lap. “I mean I get the thing with the little kissing and no sex, that’s really nice. But still…those social expectations make me want to crawl out of my skin…a woman shouldn’t work, a woman has to support her husband and raise the children, a man has to marry the woman his father sees fit for him. And all simply because that’s how it has been done for ages…” he can’t help but shudder. “My father would have married me off to the daughter of one of his friends at least five years ago…”

“Uther would have probably liked that…” Merlin agrees with a shudder of his own. “And you are right; many of the social expectations in those movies are highly problematic. And even though the couples usually defy society’s expectations they probably help to enforce them in people’s minds and keep them alive. And I can’t watch them all the time – that would drive me mad…but still, I like how men can cry without being weak. I like family matters. And I even like how tradition and culture are still important for people’s life’s even though they don’t fit my understanding of how the world should be. I guess I sometimes long for this comfort some people get from their traditions or religious beliefs, I’d like to have that too…but then I turn around and start thinking how many people like me, people that are different, have suffered because of such rules and expectations and then I’m glad to have my agnostic-secular feminism instead.”

During his little speech Merlin started to pet Arthur’s hair, which is one of Arthur’s favorite things about their movie nights. “I guess everything comes with a price,” Arthur says and leans into Merlin’s touch so his friend doesn’t stop. “Religious and traditional belonging for the price of confinement in social constructs and expectations you don’t fit, and feminism in exchange for being mad at all the things that are still wrong in the world…”

“Uhhh, it was nice back when life was still easy,” Merlin whines.

Arthur laughs. “Poor old man with your nostalgia and back pain.”

“Eyyy, if you’re starting to be mean I won’t pet you anymore!” Merlin pouts at him.

 “We can’t have that of course,” Arthur laughs again.

~~~

A week later they are lying on Merlin’s couch again. Close to each other because Merlin got cold but didn’t want to disturb Hazel who is sleeping on the blanket that lay on the armchair. This time Arthur is doing the hair-petting since he is the big spoon, so to speak.

“Do you know what annoys me the most about society?” Merlin asks quietly after a few minutes of comfortable silence. “How all the standard tables are too small for you?” Arthur asks grinning, thinking back to another of Merlin’s rants earlier in the evening about how the tables at the library were killing him.

“No,” Merlin laughs, “but that’s probably a close second.” He snuggles closer to Arthur. “It’s how I’m never sure if I like or dislike things because I like them or not, or because society tells me I’m supposed to like or dislike a certain thing.”

“Hm, care to elaborate a bit?” Arthur asks curiously.

“Like with a relationship. Most days I’m perfectly fine with not having one, because I get everything I want and need from my awesome friends. But some days I think I’m just kidding myself, like that is my way of coping with the fact that I can’t have something that I want. To pretend that I don’t actually want it. And then I get mad, because I think that that’s just because society tells me that I have to want a relationship, that my existence is somehow not valid as long as I’m not paired up with someone. And part of me wants to tell society to go fuck itself and that nothing is wrong with me. But some other part of me really wants to have someone to share my life with, like something more than friendship. Does that even make sense?” He got so quiet at the end, that Arthur almost missed what he was saying.

Arthur hugs his friend closer. “It makes total sense,” he whispers. “I never put it in so many words, but I think I’ve felt a lot of this too. And this wish for someone to share your life with is probably what led to all those relationships even though I knew they would crash and burn in the end.”

He doesn’t say that he still sometimes blames himself for the crashing and burning. Blames himself because he couldn’t give his partners what they needed. But Merlin seems to hear it anyway, because he squeezes his hand and mumbles, “It’s not your fault. You’re a-okay.”

“You’re such a dork.” He grins and just like this Merlin has pushed the darkness away again. “Thanks though.”

And they go back to their comfortable quiet and eventually drift off to sleep, still curled together while Hazel hogs the blanket.

~~~

Another few weeks pass and Arthur often thinks about how easy it is with Merlin. How they understand each other and how he has never been so comfortable with just casually touching someone. He was always afraid of unwanted interpretations that might happen. He thinks how easy it could be to be just a little more than friends. And he thinks back to what they said about wanting to share their life with someone. But he is also scared, because he feels like he simply couldn’t stand to lose Merlin.

But one day he arrives at the conclusion that something needs to be done. So he decides to give himself and Merlin the morning off and walks to his friend’s office. Thankfully Gwen and Gwaine aren’t there yet.

“Hey, you got a minute?”

Merlin turns towards him and smiles. “Sure, what’s up?”

“I’d like to talk to you, but not at the office. Take a walk with me?” Merlin shoots him a curious look, but grabs his jacket. “Well, if you think my boss won’t object if I just leave I’m all yours,” he grins cheekily.

“I checked with your boss, it’s alright, the Hanoverians aren’t going anywhere, and they can wait a few hours for you.”

So they leave the museum and start down the road.

“Let’s walk along the old city wall, shall we?” Arthur suggests.

“Sure, lead the way.” Merlin shrugs.

Soon they reach the path that leads up and down around the old center of the city. It’s flanked by trees and elder bushes and mostly empty at this time of the day, aside from the odd jogger that passes them every now and then.

They walk in silence for the first minutes until Merlin finally takes a deep breath “So…are we going to talk?”

“Yeah…sure…I don’t really know how to put this…I’ve never been in such a situation…I don’t want you to be mad…”

“Arthur! Breathe!” Merlin puts a comforting hand on his friends arm. “I won’t run or bite your head off. Just say what you’re thinking. And it’s okay if you need a few tries to get it out right.”

“Okay. I can do this.” Arthur swallows and tries to calm his thoughts. “I like you. I like you a lot more then I have liked anyone in quite some time. And I was thinking about asking you out. But I’m scared. I don’t want to risk losing you. Because I don’t know how you feel and I can’t lose you. But at the same time I’m hopeful because maybe it could work out with both of us being ace and all…?”

Merlin smiles. “That’s a lot like I feel too. Recently I spend a lot of nights tossing and thinking what might be. And being afraid because just because two people are ace and friends doesn’t have to mean anything…”

“True, but maybe it means something for us?” The insecurity is clearly audible in Arthur’s question.

“We certainly should give it a try, don’t you think?” and with that Merlin takes his hand and they keep walking, making plans for a dinner-and-movie night even though it’s a work night.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> In my head Gwen, Morgana and Mordred are in a poly relationship I never really got to put it in the story, but I still wanted you to know.  
> Also did anyone notice the Heros of Olympus references? I was right in the middle of reading the series when I did the final editing and some names ended up in here.  
> Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it, let me know what you thought pretty please :)


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